Prettie White Wednesday

Good morning! Sorry I wasn't here on Monday...I literally wasn't here since I flew to Texas with my family to visit my in-laws there. We all had a nice trip, especially Julia who loves all the fun things to do there at the ranch.

Now I'm back and running behind as always! It's after 10pm and I just finished my card. I loved this challenge from Jackie P - a local Californian! She wanted us to use only white for our card, except the main image which could be colored with other colors. I had seen this technique on Patty Bennett's blog a while back and really wanted to try...so I thought this would be perfect!I stamped the tree from Soakin' Up the Sun (currently unavailable, but soon to return!) with white craft ink on shimmery white paper then embossed with clear embossing powder per Patty's instructions. I then wet the paper and added the ink. It's so much fun to watch the color spread! I used shimmery white paper for my card base, and for the layer just under the tree that was cuddlebugged. Then, I added some white striped paper from the SU! specialty paper pack, and some ribbon. Lastly, I stamped the sentiment with brilliance black ink. Hopefully I didn't break the rules by using black on something other than the main image!!Overall, I'm very happy with my card, and will for sure play with this technique more. Thanks for the great challenge, officer!!

Prettie Fat Cat Wednesday

2 Weeks ago Jodi challenged us all to create a card using the colors from Danielle's new designs Fat Cat Stamps logo...apricot appeal, baja breeze and pacific point. As most of the Prettie's know, I am not a real big fan of baja...but I liked it here!I used the June Stamp of the Month, Giving Thanks Sophia for the card. I just love her...she's so sweet looking in this image! I colored her using my stamp pad and aquapainter for the dress, my markers for the rest. Then I added the Baja Breeze ribbon, and these fun pearl brads I picked up at Mikes a while back - pretty aren't they?
Sorry for the quick post...I'm in between watching Idol final performances and Dancing results show, and as usual there's someone complaining in the background wanting to go to sleep with his favorite pacifier - ME! I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your week and long weekend! I'll be back on Monday from Texas where I'm visiting my in-laws for my dh's birthday!!

I love New York!

New York City is an amazing place. I visited there for the first time just over 3 years ago now on our way to Germany when we moved. My sisters live in Jersey now, and since they've moved there I've been up to New York 3 times, and will be visiting again this summer when we head East. The funny thing is though, I have never seen the Statue of Liberty there - although I've seen her smaller sister in Paris 4 times! So, we're going to fix that this summer!Lady Liberty Sophia is one of the sets Paper Pretties released back on May 1st, and I just love her!! She's perfect for making 4th of July cards, cards for the troops, or just general America Rocks cards. :-)
For this card I stamped her on white cardstock then colored her in with my SU! markers. I cut her and the chocolate chip layer with my nesties, then used the sketch challenge from the release party for the layout, adding some fun dp I picked up at my LSS. It's actually a Christmas design, but I thought it looked like fireworks for behind Lady Liberty.

If you're looking for a fun sketch to try, be sure to check out Danielle's latest Pretties Weekly Challenge (PWC52) because it looks fabulous! I'm hoping to try it out myself soon!! And be sure to upload your cards to the challenge gallery - you could win a gift certificate to the Prettie Boutique!

Have a wonderful week everyone!

Prettie Wednesday Color Challenge

2 weeks ago Jackie challenges us all to use our favorite color, along with a darker and lighter version. I LOVE Pacific Point. It's such a wonderful blue. So I paired that up wtih Night of Navy and Bashful Blue for this fun Flirty Phrases card.
I stamped the take out box onto some white cardstock and then again onto some SU! dsp to paper piece, then I cut it all out with my new labels nestabilities. I cut out the fortune and the chopsticks, colored the chopsticks and then gave them some gloss with my crystal effects.
I put the bashful blue through my cuddlebug in this fun folder, then added the ribbon, adhered it to the 5" square night of navy base, then added the rest. I think it's a fun card, and with that sentiment (Your future will be full of love) it can be very versatile - anniversary, wedding, engagement, or just for your honey!!

Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone - be sure to surf around to all the other Prettie Girl blogs to see what THEIR favorite colors are, and don't forget to check out the latest Prettie Weekly Challenge tomorrow on the Paper Clip!!

Happy Birthday to our Canadian Mama!

Our Prettie Mama Christie's birthday was Friday, May 1st - the day of our release party! We didn't ignore her by not doing a hop, we instead had a challenge at the party to create a birthday card for her!!I used our fun new Canadian Girl Sophia, and created the birthday banner using the Welcome Home stamp from Danielle's new set Home Sweet Home. I just stamped the outside and handwrote my own greeting! I colored her in with my SU! markers using some artichoke for her sweater. And of course, some bling for the corners. Speaking of bling, did you know that the Prettie Boutique now has Blingz?? You gotta check it out, it's WAY cool!I hope your day was spectacular Mama!! We love you!

Prettie Butterfly Birthday Hop

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there! And especially to Christi - for it's her birthday today also!! I hope your little ones are extra sweet to you today!!!

In honor of Christi's birthday(you know, that Whimsical Butterfly girl??), the Pretties are having another fun blog hop. If you are just joining us, please go to Christie's blog so you don't miss any of the Prettie Birthday fun. If you just arrived from Charmaine's Oodabug Alley, you're in the right place!I thought I should bring some Strawberries to the party since the season is in full-bloom here and I've been eating strawberries non-stop for the past several weeks. I knew my fellow pretties would enjoy them...perhaps we can all have some strawberry daquiris!! The patterned papers are from the Nana's Nursery Girl stack - my buddy Charlie made me do it!!! Of course, I couldn't be sexist so I got the boy set too. And now I want Nana's Kitchen!!! I'm sunk!

The stamp is our newest stamp of the month, Give Thanks. Isn't she adorable? You can get her next month (before she is released to the general public on July 1st) by joining hte Stamp of the Month club!! Cool beans, huh?For the next stop on our Birthday Hop, I send you Down Under the illustrious StampOwl, Frances! And don't forget to visit Christi and give her some Birthday Love after you've hopped to the end!!

Dusting off a Prettie for Wednesday

Happy Wednesday everyone. Today I have a neglected Prettie for you. Mostly because, I tend to forget her until Mother's Day! However, she is quite useful all-year-round (even if I did use her to make a Mother's Day card here...I mean...I needed to make one anyway, right?!?)

Here's our lovely Lexi baking some chocolate chip cookies. While I know my mom did make those, I'd prefer these be the big soft molasses cookies she used to make...YUM! Maybe I can get her to make some this summer when we're in Maine!!I used some wonderful SU! dsp because my mom loves Black Eyed Susans, and these were close enough to those flowers, especially by adding in the brown. Not your traditional mom's day colors, but they work for my wonderful mom!! So go pull our your Made With Love set and get a card made for your mom before Sunday!!

Be sure to go visit all the other Prettie Girls to see what stamp set's they've dusted off for today's challenge...And mom...Happy Mother's Day! :-)

Pretties Weekly Challenge #5-0 baby!

Happy Monday everyone! We're all excited here because my sister flew in Sunday afternoon for a quick visit before some meetings she has in Southern California on Tuesday. Julia of course was bouncing off the walls with excitement, and hasn't let go of her auntie since she arrived!

Friday night's SIYJ party was a blast (although I had to keep popping out to deal with children, husband, dinner, etc!) The new sets are fabulous - and our new designer out of this world! :-)One of the challenges at the party was a color challenge, so I decided to combine that with Danielle's sketch from her Weekly challenge. I have to admit...I like the color combo quite a bit. And with this set and sketch...it's perfect! I used Danielle's new stamp set Home Sweet Home along with my aquapainters and ink pads for the images. Then added some chocolate chip, kraft and tangerine tango cardstock. Lastly, I have some Cafe aulait buttons. Cute, huh?? I loved painting a cute old brownstone.I hope you all have a wonderful week...I'll be back on Wednesday giving a neglected prettie stamp some love!

Blog Hop and Pretties Party TONIGHT!!

I can't believe it's already May 1st...boy did April fly by!! And with the first of the month, another awesome Paper Pretties Release, and Stamping In Your Jammies party! WOOHOO!!

We at Paper Pretties are SO EXCITED today!! Not only are we introducing a BRAND new set by none other than our own Prettie Girl, Danielle Lounds, but we are having an EXTRA SPECIAL party! Today is Christie's, the owner and operator of Paper Pretties, birthday!! Please join us at the party tonight to wish her a VERY happy birthday!! The festivities start at 5pm PST, so don't be late!!

We've got a fun blog hop for you showcasing Danielle's new set! The hop started with Christie, so if you haven't been to her site yet, please head on over (and don't forget to wish her a Happy Birthday while you're there!)Danielle's debut set is called Home Sweet Home and it is gorgeous! I love all the different houses that come with it, and the sentiments are all awesome! I colored this with an aquapainter and ink pads...and love the soft look with the brighter colors. Goes great with this gorgeous Marakesh paper from Basic Grey, don't you think?Be sure to go to Charmaine's blog next on the hop...you won't want to miss any of the beautiful cards everyone has made with this fun new set. And we look forward to partying with you tonight over on the Paper Pretties site!!